THC fans, we’ve got something that you’ll get a really good laugh out of. We’ve been laughing for a few days about it, if only to keep ourselves from crying.

But it’s actually really bad news, at least for people that don’t like getting robbed. Your friendly local AFSCME (the union that represents public employees here in Humboldt) sent a letter to your very own Humboldt County Supervisors this past Wednesday. And it’s not just any letter.

No, it’s a shameful letter that illustrates just how self-centered, greedy, and nasty this organization really is. We’ve reproduced it in full for your reading pleasure/horror:

Mr. Lovelace excluded as he is pro working class and pro economy and pro America.

So AFSCME had another contract meeting last night. Great turnout. We have voted overwhelmingly to move forward to cast a strike vote if we don’t receive an acceptable contract. Have fun doing our jobs. But more interestingly, we will be starting exploratory committees to run active members and retired members for capture the offices you hold, as the trust fund baby crew holding office now does not understand the working class or America.

In addition, we will start negative campaigning against your reelections bids. So hopefully you have hidden all of your dirt.It will be exposed to the public in mass media campaigns, doorstep pamphlets, radio airings, press releases and TV commercials, to Betty Chinn center and Catholic Charities, to Redwood Empire Little League, to the neighborhood watch etc. We just got word we have the funding and backing of the broader AFSCME brotherhood as well as our local fund raising. Hope you like to fight.

It was also brought to our attention that Rex Bohn has the endorsements of our state assemblyperson and state senator, Mr Wood and Mr McGuire, who are Democrats, and we assumed are the allies of the working class of America. They have also been contacted with a similar message to opposition to there support of Rex Bohn’s reelection. Also included are statements made by Rex Bohn about not needing AFSCME votes, reported and documented facts about personal history, the fact he is a trust fund baby and does not understand the working class. We will also be sending members to Sacramento to let lobby and advise them that if they endorse Bohn, a stated independent, who but who really is an all out Tea Party Conservative, then they will also be campaigned against negatively by the local and by broader AFSCME when it is there time.

It’s time to play hard ball.

Bass and Sundberg will be the next focus.

Solidarity and Unity, AFSCME LOCAL 1684

Basically, we’ve got a bunch of whiny little f***s that think they should be paid even more than they are now – which, as we will get into, is far beyond what the regular Joe/Jane in Humboldt is earning. And the best part is that they do not give a shit that it is you and I, their neighbors and fellow Humboldt residents, whom they are demanding empty their pockets so that AFSCME members can profit.

We’ve delved into the cushy jobs that AFSCME members hold before, but let’s refresh you. Check out how much each County employee earned on average in 2013:

Pretty sweet deal, huh? Must be reaallly rough.

$43,177 in average wages, plus an additional $14,180 in retirement contributions and benefits. Not too shabby – especially when you consider that the average income for an entire household in Humboldt is $41,426 according to the most recent census info.

So, the AFSCME wants its members to earn even more than most families of four do. Don’t fail to notice that the cost, per Humboldt resident, to support their current compensation packages is nearly $1000. (Also note that cost is per county resident ; the burden of cost is much higher for tax-payers.) How excited will you be to pony up more of your hard-earned money to support these entitled ingrates getting paid nearly twice what you bring home?

It seems like the AFSCME is less Robin Hood, and more “robbing every ‘hood in Humboldt.” THC particularly loves how the slogans they paste all over town say “Me too,” as if these motherf***ers are the ones being left behind in Humboldt’s wage inequalities. Is that a sick joke? No, actually, they are dead serious.

The AFSCME has their heads too far up their asses to realize the irony of that slogan. You see, THC isn’t so much a fan of the “Me too” thinking as we are of the “What about the rest of us?” line of thought. As in, why can’t these idiots understand that demanding these higher wages threatens the very fabric of our already cash-strapped County? “Me too”means that when one person in employ of the public gets a raise, then everyone else does too. Can you think of a few people working for our government who sure as hell don’t deserve raises? THC can.

Do you know what percentage of workers the AFSCME represents compared to our population? About 1%. Which begs the question, who really is the 99% in Humboldt County? According to the AFSCME website, only about 11% of wage and salary workers are part of a union. So, again, who is desperate for fair compensation? Not the members of the AFSCME.

In case that compensation comparisons alone don’t show you the difference between how good they’ve got it compared to your average Joe, check out the non-financial benefits that AFSCME members get, according to their website:

Are you f***ing kidding? It sounds like a damn summer camp, not a job! The AFSCME is hoping that you and I are stupid enough to believe that “Me too” benefits you directly, instead of actually costing you and the County more for their sole benefit.

Quite frankly, with that kind of neighborly attitude, THC is of the opinion that that AFSCME members who whine that they don’t get paid as much as other union members in other areas can just pack up and GTFO of Humboldt. Newsflash, assholes: Nobody here gets paid as much as they would in other areas. Deal with it, or take yourselves elsewhere.

Now that we’ve got our financial and ethical objectives to the AFSCME’s bullshit out of the way, let’s take a look at the form that the offensive letter itself takes.

Let’s start off by saying, for crying out loud, that THC sincerely hopes that whoever wrote this letter was drunk as hell. Here at THC, we are by no-means grammar-nazis (proof-reading is sooo boring!). But we do think that a letter as poorly written as this is probably not the best representation an organization should put forward for their official communications. So, um, if they do get raises, maybe they should use the money to put themselves back through elementary school. Just sayin’.

In keeping with their decidedly childish level of literacy and coherence, the AFSCME resorts to school-yard bullying to threaten our Supervisors into acquiescence. It’s just plain nasty, and for all you AFSCME members out there – maybe you should demand that the organization leeching off your union dues should comport themselves with a little bit more respect.

On top of that, do these idiots really think that dragging Betty Chinn and the Catholic churches into the mix makes them seem like victims? These are charitable organizations that serve the truly under-privileged and destitute communities in Humboldt. How many AFSMCE members have to go to the soup-kitchen, we wonder?

Also of note, THC cannot think of a single time that Betty Chinn has endorsed any political candidate aside from Rex Bohn. That’s right, the recipient of the Presidential Citizens medal – the second-highest civilian award in the United States – from Barack Obama himself, feels that strongly about the good that Rex has done for our communities. Is she supposed to feel bad for people that enjoy ridiculously better lives than the people she helps? Not to mention that any wage increase given to County employees would take away funds that could potentially be used to help those same people. Give us a break.

And don’t get us started on the AFSCME’s mention of Redwood Empire Little League. Targeting little league kids? Keep your filthy, self-centered hands and politics away from our children, AFSCME. Seriously.

And perhaps our favorite part is that the AFSCME leaves Mark Lovelace out of their hate-filled message. Um, of course Lovelace supports raping the County’s coffers to meet your demands. Lovelace is done with this County – he doesn’t give two shits how much farther the policies he supports will drive us into the poor-house. Hopefully there’s enough room for the entire County at the Betty Chinn center, because that’s where this AFSCME bullshit could send us.

All in all, THC fans, we hope you are as outraged by this as we are. Don’t let the AFSCME hold the future of our County’s success hostage. In their case, “Me too” leaves out the rest of us. Next time you see them waving their signs in front of the court house, don’t honk your horn at them – roll down the window and show them your middle finger. That’s exactly what they’re doing to you.

Oh, no! Politicians had a nasty note written to them. We can’t have that. No dissent allowed. Politicians, especially the type of trust fund babies who rule the roost currently, must never be challenged.

Seriously! Are these idiots kidding? The marginally literate shouldn’t be entitled to more than minimum wage unless the can play football. The letter is an embarrassment to all county employees. They should rise up and elect real leadership rather than the hacks that are failing them now.

Regrettably, I’m pretty sure that my Stupidvisor Sundberg will cave to the rediculous of these thugs as he always has in the past. No difference between enviro-thugs and union-thugs, Sundberg gives them all whatever they want at our children’s expense of course.

hahaha and ha,
43,000 isn’t minimum wage, dip shit. and they want more. more than the median household income. more than the people the are serving. more, more, more…meanwhile the county is damn near broke. where’s the money supposed to come from to pay more wages, you moron?

Hey you total moron. Did you not read the letter at all? These people are illiterate and missiles so we already have total dip shits running the county. The only thing we could do worse is to pay the more for the crappy job they are already doing. If they can’t write a coherent letter we are already paying them too much.

I am a 15 year county employee. By and large I enjoy my job and I believe that I do pretty good work for the people of Humboldt County. I also think that I have a very fair compensation and benefit package. I do earn more than the average county wage and I am grateful for it. To all those reading the letter from the AFCME Union representatives, Please be aware that neither the sentiment, the tone, and certainly not the grammar represents my own feelings or that of most county employees. Overwhelmingly we all work hard and appreciate what we have, we have simply been hijacked by vocal extremists. Please except my personal apology and that of many likeminded county workers.

I am glad you reject their comments. All that stuff about how you recognize the good deal you are getting, understand that is the case because your union is nothing more than a Mafia that threatens people to do what they don’t want to do.

Thanks for your comment! Also, accept our apology. We get a little worked up sometimes, and perhaps the notion that it is the AFSCME union that is the target of our ire got a little lost. We recognize that that the majority of the hard-working public employees that keep the county running are probably not of the same b.s. mindset as the union. (That doesn’t mean there aren’t some high-level public administrators that we aren’t too keen on.)

That being said, we hope that you and your fellow reasonable County workers do not let the AFSCME continue to hijack your voice. Lord knows that it’s tough to depend on County leadership to take a stand against them. In any case, thanks for stopping by THC.

If it’s a fake address why do I get so much Union information from that address? I call BS on you and the union! If they made a mistake and did something stupid they should just own up to it, reprimand the person responsible, and move on. The letter speaks for itself and is CLEARLY from a union leader.

@ Mola – so basically you have no problem with LU being attacked, because in your mind there are not any factual errors, and besides, the TE allowed LU to respond.

First, the assertion by the TE is that LU has set his sights on controlling the Harbor District, one method being slandering, defaming and “making false accusations” against Greg Dale and others, and that this is being done by “Ulansay henchmen” such as Leo Sears.

In his response, LU says he considers Dale to be a good fried and that he has not made an endorsement in the race, nor has he made a disparaging remark about him.

In short, LU is denying he behind any of the shenanigans going on these past few days – if he is to be believed, there is just one “factual error” right there.

It’s also pretty funny that a poster on that thread praised Sears and even had a thread holding him up as some kind of hero when he was fighting with the city on an issue the TE agreed with him on.

I always aim to please. I must be on to something if I can be both entertaining and tiresome at the same time.

It’s a rough world out there. That’s the way the Tuluwat Examiner plays it. And that’s the way THC plays it.

In this business sometimes a person is your personal buddy… then sometimes not. That change can turn on a word… that’s true for the blogs and also for politics in general. That’s why I don’t get too wrapped up in personalities. I just have people who I like to deal with… and those I don’t. I don’t care if they (metaphorically) spit in my face or not.

I believe in the simple life.

I’m sure Mr. Sears is not too devastated by the turn of events with the Tuluwat Examiner. I would be very surprised to learn Mr. Sears has been wandering the City of Eureka in the night, wailing, “The Tuluwat Examiner doesn’t love me anymore! Where… WHERE have I gone wrong!!” to the deaf ears of the empty fog enshrouded streets.

I did not say the Tuluwat Examiner speaks for me in all things. Nor did I say that I always agree with its editorial approach. I simply meant that I don’t have a problem with hit pieces on public persons who choose to make themselves targets by their own actions (or lack thereof).

As for what Lee Ulansey says… well that is what Lee Ulansey says. One may wish to note that not everyone is completely self-aware of their own motivations (assuming truth be spoken in the first place).

AFSCME members, I’ve been doing some research on this in other threads because it is really confusing who it is who is the subject of the ire of THC. Is it AFSCME leadership, even though everyone but the True Believers can admit to either others or themselves the letter in this post was not from leadership and only probably from a member? Or is it AFSCME members generally or government workers generally?

I think one member proved that if you can come out committed to unilaterally decide that one’s wages should not increase with time and productivity you can, again, become members of society and even come back to enjoying a paid-for hard cider while presumably being invited to a day out at the park with everyone’s families.

I think then the ire only remains for those of us who understand that there is something that is absolutely ESSENTIAL to a working political system in this country. It’s something called collective bargaining. Sometimes, when pushed to extremes by unfair negotiating processes, yes we MAY need to do something which is extremely unpleasant but just as necessary.

So, as we wait for negotiations to continue (or not) and direction from leadership we might want to consider what is at stake.

On the one hand if we proudly stand against striking we may be able to have a Mike’s Hard Cider on THC and we would also positively contribute to the political atmosphere of our county by maybe softening up THC and others so we won’t be considered thugs and we’d be spare all the incredible characterizations of us used above. It’s something and we all should consider it.

On the other hand we could understand that despite MacTown’s protestations, there is a very good argument to be made that higher county worker salaries will actually help our economy. The money is coming from a pull of US citizens (including, btw, a whole bunch of union and government workers) not simply Humboldt citizens AND those dollars are then recycled into our community how many times? I know I spend a small fortune at the Co-op each month. Where then do the workers from the Co-op spend their money? We’d also be fighting for living wages b/c as other workers must know from their own personal budgets, even with the admittedly good wages and benefits, these do not keep up with the cost of living nor do they allow for stuff a middle class should be fighting for such as home-ownership, a secure retirement, guarantees against a catastrophic illness also economically devastating a family, etc.

Reality is not how THC and anti-government libertarians, Republicans, Decline To States and conservatives describe it. They have an agenda as do working people. This faux letter is ONLY the tip of the iceberg of their destructive narrative which is often based on either half-truths or out-right lies.

They know this which is why they have to stonewall instead of admit that this post was either blindness or an intentional lie.